33 things you probably didn’t know about Lady Gaga

91st Annual Academy Awards - Arrivals
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Even if you call yourself a “little monster,” you probably don’t know everything about Lady Gaga.

Long before “A Star is Born,” the singer/actress/fashion provocateur had already led a rich and colorful life.

In honor of her 33rd birthday today, here are 33 fascinating facts about the singer.

1. Her real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta.

2. Queen’s 1984 hit “Radio Ga Ga” was the inspiration behind her professional name.

3. Beginning when she was four, her mother made her sit at the piano for an hour a day, whether she played or not.

lady gaga concert photo
Getty Images | Dimitrios Kambouris

4. Her first performance was in her 1st-grade play. She made her own costume out of tinfoil and hangers.

5. She has had the same vocal coach, Don Lawrence, since she was 11 years old.

6. Lawrence’s nephew overheard her singing to herself in a New York boutique and connected her with his uncle.

lady gaga singing photo
Getty Images | Kevin Winter

7. She attended the oldest independent girls’ school in Manhattan.

8. Her fellow alumnae there include Caroline Kennedy as well as Paris and Nicky Hilton.

9. Gaga was one of the only students with an after-school job, as a waitress at an Upper West Side diner.

lady gaga red carpet photo
Getty Images | Emma McIntyre

10. Her freshman year of high school she joined a cover band that played classic rock like Led Zeppelin and U2.

11. She has many tattoos, but her first was a G clef on her lower back.

12. Her first celebrity crush was actor Adrien Brody.

lady gaga photo
Getty Images | Michael Kovac

13. When she was 15, she had a minor role in an episode of “The Sopranos.”

14. She was one of 20 students accepted early into NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, but she withdrew after her second semester.

15. When she was in college, someone created a Facebook group called “Stefani Germanotta, you will never be famous.”

lady gaga red carpet photo
Getty Images | Vittorio Zunino Celotto

16. She met Lady Starlight, a performance artist and Gaga collaborator, at a bar where Lady Starlight used to go-go dance. Gaga was dating the bar’s manager.

17. Lady Gaga once was a go-go dancer herself, on New York’s Lower East Side.

18. Akon pushed Lady Gaga’s solo career when he signed her to his label.

akon lady gaga photo
Getty Images | Dimitrios Kambouris

19. She dyed her hair blonde after a British reporter mistook her for Amy Winehouse.

20. She opened for New Kids on the Block when they toured in 2008.

21. Her song “Telephone” was originally written for Britney Spears’ “Circus” album.

lady gaga britney spears photo
Getty Images | Kevin Winter

22. Her younger sister Natali was in the music video for “Telephone.”

23. Her father, president of GuestWifi, helped establish the spread of wireless internet access in hotels.

24. She performs without pants because her grandmother, who has poor vision, can “make out the lighter parts like her skin and hair.”

lady gaga concert photo
Getty Images | Bryan Bedder

25. One of her middle names, Joanne, was given in memory of her aunt who died of Lupus.

26. Joanne died at 19, 12 years before Gaga was born. The singer named her fifth album in her honor.

27. Gaga is godmother to Elton John’s two sons.

lady gaga elton john photo
Getty Images | Pascal Le Segretain

28. She prefers New York to Los Angeles.

29. She has a framed letter from David Bowie on her mantel.

30. Her song “Boys, boys, boys” was inspired by Mötley Crüe’s hit “Girls, girls, girls.”

lady gaga singing photo
Getty Images | Kevin Winter

31. She suffers from fibromyalgia.

32. Her fragrance “Fame” was the first in the world to change color from bottle to mist. It was described as “the most important innovation in the fragrance industry in the last 20 years.”

33. Lady Gaga is the first woman to ever win an Oscar, Grammy, BAFTA and Golden Globe in the same year — all for “A Star is Born.”

lady gaga golden globe photo
Getty Images | Kevin Winter

Written by Jodi Upchurch and Saeed Ahmed for CNN.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2019 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

Celebrities, Entertainment

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